Heinz Körner:
A life between ink pen and speech bubble
Who is behind the line?
Heinz Körner, born in Lichtenfels in 1940, is a true legend of German comic history. What began in his childhood with secret drawings on wallpaper and in school notebooks led him straight into the studios of the country's best-known publishers. With his calm manner and tireless talent he has shaped generations of readers – always from his home village of Reundorf.
From Fix und Foxi to the cult kangaroo
The list of his work reads like a who’s who of the classic kiosk comics. After training as an advertising salesman, he was drawing for Rolf Kauka as early as the 1960s, on the famous “Fix und Foxi” family and on series such as “Knox” and “Mischa”. Next came stints at Lehning (“Hörni”), Bastei (“Felix”) and Kelter Verlag, for which he created characters such as “Mucki und Matzi” and “Käpt’n Snuffy”.
Yinni and Yan: a quarter century of Yps history
Heinz Körner created his life's work from 1975: for the cult magazine "Yps mit Gimmick" he invented the reporter series "Yinni und Yan".
1,235 episodes: For over 25 years he accompanied the heroes Yinni, Yan, Yorick and Yack.
Love of home: In episode 626 he even sent his characters up the local Staffelberg to look for a legendary fish.
Diligence: At peak times he drew up to ten comic pages a week – one of the longest-running series by a single artist in Germany.
Attached to home
Craft without pathos
Despite the huge success of "Yps", the "Comicopa" (comic grandpa) stayed modest. He gave up on the idea of living abroad and preferred to work over 50 hours a week at his familiar drawing desk in Reundorf. For him, comics were always "picture stories in sequences". He never lost his passion for the precise line: even after Yps ended in 2000 he did not put down his pen, and worked with partners on new, digital media.
Did you know?
In the 1950s, enthusiasm for comics was not welcome everywhere. Heinz Körner remembers with a smile how the church warned against "picture magazines". A clergyman once asked him, horrified, whether he couldn't use his talent for something "else". Luckily for all comic fans he stayed true to his passion, and to this day he likes "to doodle something rather pretty" (as he puts it in his own words).
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